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Message from the provost

Author(s)

Rebecca Chopp

Letter

•

October 10, 2016

To: DU community

Dear colleagues,

As the chancellor mentioned in her Sept. 12 welcome message, we are in the early stages of implementing our strategic plan, DU IMPACT 2025. Implementation is a process that must be both iterative and consultative—drawing on the collective energy and wisdom of the campus community.

While the plan itself was organized around four key transformative directions, its initiatives are interrelated. We have divided these initiatives into “clusters,” each with teams of community members, which are organized for getting work done. These teams are small by design because they are responsible for convening other stakeholders and communicating progress. No team is meant to be representative of the entire campus, which is why they will be going out and meeting with so many of you in the coming months.

We spent time this past spring thinking concretely about how to translate DU IMPACT 2025 into actionable items, and now these teams will be getting to work, seeking input and feedback along the way.

Throughout the coming year, we will provide updates on our progress in a number of ways. The chancellor’s website will provide a status report, and over time, this will come to include metrics to monitor outcomes and overall success. Communications and Marketing will also highlight specific stories through a variety of channels. And we will be using existing groups like the Faculty Senate, the Staff Advisory Council, student governments and others to provide updates and seek input.

We have heard from many of you the need to look closely at infrastructure and processes to see what systems may need to change in order to support the plan. As the implementation teams are moving ahead in their work and developing specific proposals, we are beginning to undertake several audits and studies, including the following:

A review of our budget and finance systems, as announced in September

A renewed campus master plan, in light of the vision for a DU District, affordable housing and a reimagined Driscoll Student Center

A persistence initiative to ensure greater student success

A review of our tuition-setting process

A research project looking at graduate enrollment throughout the institution

Some of the work of DU IMPACT 2025 predates the planning process itself. DU IMPACT 2025 is a vision—and that vision captures exciting projects that are already underway, as well as those yet to be envisioned. Successful launches like the Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging or Project X-ITE represent programs years in the making. Some projects highlighted in the plan, like re-imagining the Driscoll Student Center, have also been under discussion for years—but now have the explicit support of the administration and Board of Trustees, meaning we can move toward realizing them. Other elements won’t be fully realized for years to come, which is why we will need to build a culture of transparent and frequent communication as we move toward the notion of “One DU,” drawing on our many stories, backgrounds and expertise in service of a common mission.

We are hosting a town hall, open to all community members, on Friday October 28, from noon to 1 p.m. in Anderson Academic Commons Special Events Room (AAC 290). Join us for lunch and Halloween treats as we provide updates on our implementation efforts. Please RSVP to [email protected] if you plan to attend.

Meanwhile, many of you will be invited by various implementation teams to provide input into how we can best realize the vision of DU IMPACT 2025.